iPhone not Stephen Fry's greatest gadget

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The iPhone, and smartphones generally, only came a paltry 13th in Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets - a TV show aired by Channel 4 in the UK yesterday. And the self-confessed Apple fanboy revealed that the iPad (10th) and iPod (3rd) were also beaten by... A lighter. A normal, basic, cheap lighter.

Usually, Channel 4's 100 polls are open to a public vote beforehand, giving UK citizens the chance to see their favourites top the list, however, this time, the choices were up to celebrity gadgeteer Fry himself. As the dedicated web page puts it, the show was entirely, "Stephen Fry choosing and presenting his all-time favourite gadgets."

Fry explained that he chose the lighter as his all-time greatest gadget for its historical importance: "It's not the order in which things are invented that makes them the most impressive, it's the importance they have to humanity. So my number one is this: fire with a flick of the fingers."

And while he may have a point, it's his definition of "gadget" that seems to have confused many who watched the programme. Among his list he also includes the pen, an apple peeler (ooo, he's such an Apple fanboy), a corkscrew and a whistle... No, really.

Of the other devices we cover on Pocket-lint, the eReader (such as the Amazon Kindle) did the worst. It came a mere 99th, three places below a garlic press.

We kid you not.

What do you think? Do you think that the lighter deserves a place in the all time top 100 gadgets? Or do you think that the Apple-loving Fry is off his trolley? Let us know in the comments below...